Several weeks ago I posted a simple mod that I made to my Orion. That was to
remove the internal speaker and add a 12vdc computer fan. One of the things I
quickly noticed was the darkened left side of my monitor completely cleared up,
with the addition of the fan.
This weekend I worked many hours in the WPX contest. My radio room is located
in the central part of my house (no more basement shacks!) and is subject to my
air conditioning system of my home. During the contest (my first full-bore
contest at this QTH), I had not yet figured out a good air flow scheme through
the radio room. While my AC kept the remainder of the house at a comfortable 79
degrees (outside temp was 100 degrees), my radio room temp got as high as 87
degrees. This is with the Orion, Titan 3, computer, LCD monitor, +12vdc P.S.
running. The amp was outputting about 1400 watts.
At one point, I noticed my Orion's LCD screen getting darker (the entire
screen). I put a little RS digital therometer at the bottom of the front air
vents on the Orion. I noticed as the room temperature got to 86 degrees, the
Orion LCD screen began to darken. At 87 degrees, it got noticeable darker
(darker, but not causing a reading problem). At 85 degrees, the LCD screen was
completely clear. (NOTE: I'm speaking about 1 degree temp increments here, but
this is obviously not a 'scientific' test, just an indication of findings in my
radio room)
The point here is that if your Orion's LCD screen becomes dark, you may need to
have some additional cooling on the Orion. My fan, located where the speaker
used to be mounted, helps during normal operating conditions. However, probably
to completely cool the LCD screen area, you should try to force some cool air
into the front panel vents on the bottom of the Orion.
Both my Orion and my Titan 3 were powered on from Friday about 5pm until Sunday
about 8pm...no glitches, no burps. But with the sensivity of the menu selection
picks, you just DO NOT change much in the menu while your operating in a
contest!!!
Tom - W4BQF
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